Saturday, June 29, 2013

A Fistful of Fictional Presidents! (Matt’s Picks)

With ultra-dull White House Down in theaters this weekend, we’re looking at some of our favorite fictional presidents. Sadly, Jamie Foxx’s uncomfortable collection of ethnic stereotypes, President “DJ Jazzy” Sawyer will not be making the cut.

5. President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho may not be the sharpest bulb in the sea, but he knows what the people like, and he knows how to give it to ‘em. He is the worst case scenario and he rules the Idiocracy.

4. Gaius Baltar is the most interesting and conflicted character on Battlestar Galactica, so it’s no shock his rise to power is rather strange and magical. When he becomes president, it almost feels like destiny. A really awful, horrible destiny.

3. The President, as played by Henry Fonda in Fail Safe makes some of the hardest choices a man might be called upon to make. But if the fate of the world were in his hand, I would feel…well, not safe, but in good hands.

2. Donald Pleasence is the President in Escape from New York, and he’s having a bad day. He goes from awkward and abused to total Rambo nuts and back again at the flip of a switch, and even the Duke of New York, who may indeed be A number 1, is no match.

1. David Palmer may be about the most hardcore president I’ve ever seen. He makes the tough calls, does the right things, and puts foes in their place. He may be married to a demon, but even she can’t hold him back. At a time when I was feeling particularly low about American politics, the first two seasons of 24 re-kindled a bit of the presidential awe I had as a young lad.